Tiny Gear Concert 18th June 2025
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
On the evening of 18th June 2025, the Real Ale Classroom in Leicester played host to an event that proved you don’t need large rigs or towering speaker stacks to make an impact. The Tiny Gear Concert, organised as part of a continuing series of local experimental sound gatherings, brought together a group of adventurous performers who showed that constraint can be the mother of invention—and that intimacy can be more powerful than scale.
Tucked into the warm, wood-panelled surroundings of the Classroom’s backroom, the evening unfolded as a series of micro-sets—each crafted using minimal hardware: compact samplers, pocket synthesisers, DIY instruments, contact mics, loopers, and carefully curated field recordings. The focus was on immediacy, creativity, and a sense of play, inviting both performers and audience to lean in and listen more closely.
What stood out wasn’t just the gear (though its sheer portability was a point of fascination), but the textures and moods it produced. There was a tactile quality to the sounds—grainy loops, hums, clicks, fractured rhythms, and layered ambience that blurred the line between music and environment. One performer manipulated recordings of birdsong and beer glasses clinking to create a layered composition that seemed to situate the audience somewhere between a forest and a pub garden. Another brought out a modular drone rig no larger than a lunchbox, weaving slow-shifting tones that shimmered with harmonic overtones.
The event also served as an informal platform for conversation and community. Between sets, performers shared techniques and tools, often showing how they’d modified their kit or discovered accidental workflows. There was no hierarchy—just an open exchange of enthusiasm, curiosity, and a shared love for sonic experimentation.
In a world saturated with high-tech spectacle and algorithmically flattened content, the Tiny Gear Concert felt refreshingly human and grounded. It was a reminder of what can be achieved with limited means, clear intention, and a willingness to explore. For those who attended, it was more than a gig; it was a quiet, resonant moment of collective attention—a listening space cultivated with care and imagination.
As the evening ended, and the audience drifted back into the early summer night, the sounds lingered. Not in the ears, necessarily, but in the atmosphere: subtle, strange, and full of promise.
Whether you’re a seasoned audio tinkerer or just curious about what happens when sonic art goes pocket-sized, this concert series is one to watch. Or rather, to listen to—carefully.
